The invention relates to a method of extracting a hollow member laid in the earth.
Pipes, for example for conducting drinking water, can become leaky after decades of use, or have other drawbacks, so that it becomes necessary to replace them by new pipes. Such pipes for domestic connections consisted in the past, among other materials, also of lead. Therefore it is also appropriate or even prescribed for health and environmental reasons to replace the lead pipes by pipes of another material, preferably polyethylene (PE). For this purpose the lead pipes should be withdrawn from the earth and the new pipes inserted into the earth in their place. When however the front end of the lead pipe is connected to a traction element and then attempts are made to withdraw the lead pipe, due to the low tensile strength of the lead it is unavoidable that the pipe will immediately rupture. Again, it is not possible to force the lead pipe out of the earth by connections at the rear end, as it is not sufficiently pressure-resistant, and would immediately deform.